U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. - The Air Force Academy fencers traveled to Dallas, Texas, this past weekend to compete in the North American Cup (NAC) Division I and Junior competitions. The Falcons' top finishers in the competition were freshmen Chase Houser and Travis Dyson.

Houser was the Falcons' top finisher in Saturday's Division I Men's Epee event. Houser won his second-round bout 15-14, but lost his third-round match, 15-7, and finished 15th among his 257 opponents. Dyson was also a top finisher on Sunday, as he tied for 36th place among 189 fencers in the NAC Junior Men's Foil event. In pools, Dyson earned a bye after winning 83 percent of his bouts (5-1). In round 2, he lost 15-10 and finished tied for 36th place.

"For our freshmen walk-ons, Cranfill, Cooper, Torres, Chung and Zartman, this was their first national tournament. They fought hard and scored good touches but the national competition proved very tough for the new competitors," said Salem.

On Saturday, Trapani and Sorensen were the team's high finishers in the Div. I Men's Epee event. Trapani finished 62nd, while Sorensen finished 66th in the field of 257.

On Sunday, Nelson finished 51st in the field of 112 Div. I Women's Saber competition. In Div. I Women's Epee, Nokleberg, after a close loss in the second round of competition, was the Falcons' high finisher in 52nd place among 157 competitors.

Also competing on Sunday, in Div. I Men's Saber, Woerner finished in 103rd place, while Edward Wood finished in 155th place and Pippin finished 159th in the field of 162.

Nelson, who competed in Monday's Junior Women's Saber event finished 51st after a 15-14 loss in the second round. Houser and Walker both fenced in the Junior Men's Epee competition. Houser finished 72nd, while Walker finished 102nd in the event that fielded 224 fencers.